April 18, 2023: Mother Goose! Will hatch begin on April 22? Stay tuned!
What are we looking forward to this week? We’re anticipating hatch in the goose nest with the leap of faith following about 24 to 48 hours afterwards! We’re guesstimating hatch to begin on April 22, but it could happen a little earlier or a little later than that.
Decorah and Xcel Energy Fort St. Vrain Eaglets
April 18, 2023: Decorah family portrait! HM and HD are guarding from a perch about 35 feet away.
In Decorah, DH2 will turn two weeks old on Friday! In its second week of life, our little eaglet will gain roughly two pounds, experience rapid growth in its beak, culmen, and footpads, start replacing its white natal down with thicker grey thermal down, and begin exploring its nest. We’ll write more about two-week old changes and feedings later, but you can rest assured that HD and HM have figured out feeding and have the pantree well-stocked with fish and other goodies. You can take a nice look at DH2’s growing clown clompers here: https://youtu.be/g-gRZfvUpxQ!
April 18, 2023: FSV47 and 48
The eaglets at Xcel Energy’s Fort St. Vrain nest are already showing a true Colorado mountaineering spirit! We’re not sure that the third egg is going to hatch, since it is at 40 days and shows no signs of life: no pipping, no egg vocalizations, and no movement. Given the age difference between the oldest and youngest eaglet, it is probably just as well. Congratulations to Ma and Pa Junior! For more information on that nest, follow the Fort St. Vrain Eagle page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/445733962172528. To watch it, visit https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/xcel-energy-cams/ or go to https://www.youtube.com/@xcelenergyfortst.vraineagl6457.
When will the American kestrel nest go live? We hope to put it online later this week, if the kestrels begin laying eggs, and will let everyone know when it does. In the meantime, the kestrels at Xcel Energy’s Pawnee plant laid their second egg yesterday! You can watch that cam here: https://www.raptorresource.org/birdcams/xcel-energy-cams/ (scroll down the page) or here: https://www.youtube.com/@xcelenergypawneekestrelcam1340.
April 18, 2023: A Common Grackle is subleasing the North nest’s basement!
We initially thought that Mr. North and DNF might reclutch by April 11. Signs looked good – he was feeding her and the two were copulating and working on the nest together. It’s still not impossible, but it didn’t happen within the first three weeks, so the window of opportunity is closing. Meanwhile, a grackle appears to have set up house in the Decorah North nest! We have a goose cam in Decorah. Will we have grackle cam at Decorah North this year? We’ve got a video here: https://youtu.be/BtahSgESk4I.
We’re seeing a lot of pelicans on the Mississippi Flyway right now. Look for northern shovelers, ring-necked ducks, American white pelicans per the birdcast migration dashboard, https://dashboard.birdcast.info/region/US-WI-063 or look for bird sightings along the river using eBird’s Wisconsin tool: https://ebird.org/wi/map.
Thank you so much for watching, sharing, learning, and especially for caring! You can and do make a difference for the birds.
The Raptor Resource Project